


Mabel's Summer Romance

by Sci-fi-hero (FireGriffin)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/F, I've almost written every single chapter, Mabcifica, Sleepovers, also Wendy has a girlfriend, but don't worry.... it's definitely mabcifica, chapters will be regularly scheduled to come out daily, it starts out seeming like dipcifica, mabel throwing a party just for pacifica... gatsby style, pacifica winning at mario kart, singing karaoke together, so there's NO WAY I'm abandoning this one, this fic has it all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-03 23:59:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17293814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireGriffin/pseuds/Sci-fi-hero
Summary: Pacifica and Mabel weren’t even friends. They weren’t enemies anymore (and Mabel didn't want to be enemies, she hadn’t from the beginning), but they definitely weren’t friends. Sure, Pacifica didn’t glare at her from across the room at parties anymore, but it was still a surprise when the Mystery Shack doorbell rang, and Pacifica was standing on the other side of the door.So it’s understandable, then, that the first words out of Mabel’s mouth when she saw Pacifica standing in a perfectly-tailored purple outfit with mud on her boots and leaves in her hair were, “Hey Pacifica! Are you here to steal magicky secrets from us again?”(Set after the events of "Face It!" in the Gravity Falls Lost Legends book -- but no knowledge of Lost Legends is needed to understand what's going on.)





	1. Chapter 1

Pacifica and Mabel weren’t even friends. They weren’t enemies anymore (and Mabel didn't want to be enemies, she hadn’t from the beginning), but they definitely weren’t friends. Sure, Pacifica didn’t glare at her from across the room at parties anymore, but it was still a surprise when the Mystery Shack doorbell rang, and Pacifica was standing on the other side of the door.

 

So it’s understandable, then, that the first words out of Mabel’s mouth when she saw Pacifica standing in a perfectly-tailored purple outfit with mud on her boots and leaves in her hair were, “Hey Pacifica! Are you here to steal magicky secrets from us again?” 

 

“What?” Pacifica looked affronted. “No. Didn’t Dipper tell you? I’m going to kick his butt at video games today.”

 

“Pssshhhhh, suuuure you are,” Mabel teased, opening the door wider and gesturing broadly to invite Pacifica inside. “Or you *would*, if you weren’t in loooooooove.”

 

Pacifica stiffened, almost dropping her purse. “Don’t say that! I am not!”

 

Mabel’s grin only broadened. “I’ve seeeeen your teeeeexts.”

 

Pacifica didn’t deign to reply. She simply walked past, her head held high enough to snub even the most Mabel-y-est comments. Mabel closed the door behind her, watching the oddly hypnotizing way her Pacifica’s hair bounced back and forth as she walked.

 

Mabel ran into the living room, skidding to a halt right as Pacifica was sitting down on the couch beside Dipper and pulling out a diamond-studded Nintendo DS. It was a sharp contrast to Dipper’s own bright red, scratched-up DS, with nerdy stickers all over it.

 

In spite of it, they flipped their DS’s open with the same intensity. 

 

“WHAAAAAT?” Mabel exclaimed, clapping her hands to her face. “You’re actually playing video games? With Dipper??? And nobody told me?!”

 

“Shh, I’m trying to focus,” said Pacifica, sliding Mario Kart into the game slot with expert precision. Dipper was making the exact same expression as he slid his own copy of Mario Kart into his DS.

 

Mabel plopped herself down onto the couch beside Dipper. “C’moooon, it’s just a game! And how’d you find out Pacifica has a DS? How’d you get Pacifica to come all the way out here? Are you going on another monster hunt and this is your cover story? Can I come if you’re going on a monster hunt? Is it gonna be a Leprecorn hunt? A gnome hunt? A gremoblin hunt? An eye-bat hunt? A-“

 

“Mabel!” Dipper glowered at her with all of the intensity of a scrawny thirteen-year-old boy. “It’s not a monster hunt! You hang out with Candy and Grenda all the time! Can’t you give us some space?”

 

Mabel held up her hands in surrender. “Ooookay! Geez Louise.  _ Someone’s _ taking fun too seriously.”

 

Right before turning the corner and going upstairs, she waved to get Dipper’s attention. When he looked up, she pretended to make out with her hand. Dipper dropped his DS in his hurry to motion for her to cut it out. 

 

With one last wink and an eyebrow-waggle, Mabel ran upstairs.

 

~

 

The attic bedroom was just as much of a mess as it had been last year. Cardboard mini-golf holes were duct taped to the floor in inconvenient places, plastic dinosaurs were lying around on every possible table and chair-like surface, and inside of the desk that Dipper liked to sit at to draw anime faces in his sketchbook, on the very bottom drawer, was Mabel’s Notebook.

 

The Notebook deserved a capital N for many reasons, the most important being because shut up is why.  On this particular occasion, Mabel ventured into the bottom drawer of the desk to take out The Notebook because there was a match made in heaven sitting downstairs right now, who was in dire need of help.

 

Mabel sat down at the real actual desk in a real actual chair, and got down to business.

 

At the top of the newest page, Mabel wrote “DIPPER + PACIFICA = <3”

Underneath that, she spent several minutes combining their names to find the optimal ship name. Papper? Pipper? Dacifica? Dacifipper? 

Her legs swung wildly back and forth as she wrote, eventually coming upon the perfect name-combo for her totally-hopelessly-in-love-without-realizing-it couple: Dipcifica. It was a mouthful, but love wasn’t  _ supposed _ to be easy. 

 

With the ship name decided, Mabel underlined it several times in different colored glitter pens. Now came the easy part: coming up with the perfect match-making plan. She dug a bag of gummi koalas out from her secret candy stash under the bed, then tore it open with her teeth. This was going to take  _ extra sugar brain power food _ . If there was one thing Mabel knew how to do with every fiber of her being, it was recognizing when two people were meant for each other. And those two people were Dipper and Pacifica. And she was going to make them see it, too.

 

~

 

“NO!”

 

Mabel ran downstairs at the first sign of defeat. “Who won? Who won? Who won?” she chanted, leaping onto the couch beside Pacifica.

 

“I did,” said Pacifica with a distinct smirk. “Five times.”

 

Dipper didn’t respond. His face was inches away from his screen, and his expression looked more like a stomach-faced duck than a human being.

 

Mabel leaned over to see Pacifica’s screen. “Go Princess Peach, go!”

 

Pacifica glanced at Mabel, then shoved her away with one elbow. “You’re messing up my rhythm!”

 

Mabel snorted. “You sound just like Dipper.”

 

Dipper gasped as Pacifica shouted “NO!”

 

He leapt up from his seat, fist-pumping the air. “I won!”

 

Pacifica fumed. “That doesn’t count! Mabel distracted me!”

 

Dipper turned on his heels to face her, looking just as smug as she had been a second ago. “That totally counts, unless you wanna not-count the one where you kicked me in the shins-”

 

“Okay, fine.” Pacifica rolled her eyes. “I still won five out of six.”

 

Mabel bounced on the couch, watching their totally adorable romantic banter. Pacifica’s eyeliner was so on-point. She didn’t know if Dipper noticed things like that, but it must have  _ some _ kind of effect, even if only subconsciously. 

 

“Best of twelve?” Dipper sat back down on the couch beside Pacifica.

 

She flipped her DS shut. “I’d love to kick your butt six more times, but my parents think I’m at golf practice. I need to be back at home and get the old man furniture smell out of my clothes before they come back.”

 

Dipper frowned at her. “Seriously?”

 

Pacifica stood up, facing him. “Look, I can’t come home smelling like trash  _ every _ time I visit.”

 

“Why not? I think it’s a good look on you.”

 

Mabel gave him a knowing grin, but Dipper either didn’t see her or was determined not to acknowledge it. 

 

Pacifica smiled. “Thanks. But for the record, I look good with  _ any _ look.”

 

Just as she was picking up her purse, Mabel grabbed her arm and whisked her away around the corner into the hallway. Time to initiate step one.

 

“Eeeeeeee!” Mabel squealed in a harsh whisper. “You are  _ so _ in love with him!”

 

Pacifica stared at her for a moment, taken aback by the manhandling. When she came to her senses, she tore her arm out of Mabel’s grasp, looking as red as a tomato. “Can you not? Is that, like,  _ ever _ an option with you?”

 

Mabel laughed dismissively. “Haha, oh,  _ you _ . You don’t have to hide it from me! I can be your wingman!”

 

Pacifica gave her a look. “My  _ what _ ? What are you  _ talking _ about?”   
  


“Your  _ wingman _ ! I’ll tell you  _ all _ the deets about Dip Dop’s favorite things! You’re already on the right track with video games, but if you ever want a tip, from sister to sister, I’m your gal!”  Mabel gave Pacifica a friendly wink, and grabbed her phone out of her hand (Pacifica’s phone was almost always in her hand, even when it didn’t make any logical sense. Mabel’s running theory was that she was addicted to her phone.)

 

“Hey! What are you  _ doing _ ?” Pacifica reached for it, but Mabel was already typing her contact information into her phone.

 

Mabel snapped a picture of herself making a supremely goofy face, and handed the phone back to Pacifica.

 

Grabbing it back, Pacifica shoved it into her purse without so much as looking at it, and stormed towards the door with an overdramatic “ugh!”. 

 

“Call me!” Mabel whisper-shouted after her. Pacifica stopped in her tracks in the doorway, before slamming the door shut.

 

From the living room, Dipper said “Mabel, what did you do?” at the same time that Mabel fist-pumped the air. Phase One was off to a great start.


	2. Chapter 2

Candy and Grenda piled into the attic bedroom, armed to the teeth with pillows, blankets, and age-inappropriate romance novels. Dipper was spending the night on the couch (which Stan and Ford had “bought” at a yard sale and exorcized a couple days ago). 

 

He was only partially unaware of Mabel’s crazy plans. She wasn’t exactly the queen of subtlety, after all. Between all the eyebrow-wiggles and giggly questions, he’d have to be Soos not to realize she was Up To Something.

 

This wouldn’t be an issue if not for the niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he  _ did _ like Pacifica. That was what happened when a guy and girl hung out together, right? You thought you were just video game rivals, until suddenly her hair was reflecting sunlight, and her laugh was contagious, and  _ bam _ . Love.

 

Ugh, he wished Mabel would just leave it alone. If there  _ was _ anything going on between them, he wanted it to happen naturally. He didn’t want Mabel’s “great ideas” getting in the way.

 

None of this was helped by the knot growing tighter in his stomach. Sometimes his anxiety acted up for no clear reason. He’d talked to the grunkles about it, and they said it might be residual stress from Weirdmageddon. In any case, it was normal for people to feel stressed out once in a while.

 

Mabel helped distract him from the anxiety. Luckily, he’d brought a book. If The Sibling Brothers’ latest published caper couldn’t take his mind off of things, nothing could. So he settled on the couch, leaving the TV on for background noise, and began reading.

 

~

 

Mabel won the screaming contest. After consuming three bags of Rainbow Lollipop Juice Fun Candy, the girls’ sleepover was finally reaching the kind of atmosphere that could usually only be achieved by a group of hyperactive adults drinking hard liquor.

 

“BRAID BEARDS!” bellowed Grenda.

 

“No,” said Mabel with the air of an ancient prophet finally seeing God. “...triple braid beard.”

 

Five minutes later, all three girls’ hair had been braided together from the front into one massive, multicolored braid (with glitter sprinkled on for extra measure).

 

Candy gave Mabel and Grenda a serious look. “We must never leave this braid. This is our life now.”

 

Mabel and Grenda managed to return the serious look for about 2 seconds before all three burst into giggles. Candy fell backwards, dragging them all into a pile on the floor.

 

“Ow!” all three of them yelped, still grinning. Grenda was on top, absolutely crushing Candy and Mabel.

 

“So,” she whispered without lowering her volume at all, “are you ready for  _ boy talk _ ?”

 

Mabel giggled. “I can’t even see your  _ face _ , girl!”

 

After much hair-pulling and shouts of “Ow! Ow! Ow!”, they shifted into sitting cross-legged in a circle. They had to lean forward slightly just to keep from pulling their hair. The pain didn’t deter them. If anything, it made them even more hyper in their manic, sugar-crazed state.

 

“Imagine if you braided your hair together like this with a  _ boy _ ,” giggled Candy.

 

Grenda shoved her playfully. “ _ Candy! _ ” She then burst into giggles again. Marius had the perfect hair to braid together with, after all.

 

While they were all sitting there thinking about the intimacy of sitting so close to a boy, Mabel remembered Pacifica.

 

“OH MY GOSH GUYS! PACIFICA!”

 

“Huh?” said Candy and Grenda in unison.

 

Mabel scooted closer to them, wearing her gossipiest grin. “Yesterday,” she began in a whisper that made them squint to focus on her words, “Pacifica and Dipper hung out.”

 

She waited for the squeals of glee, but neither of them made a sound. They only looked at her blankly. So Mabel gave them the most obvious hint in the world: “They’re  _ made for each other _ and they don’t even know it! Don’t you see, guys? This is our perfect chance for....”

 

This time, her dramatic pause was met with exactly the reaction she was looking for. “MATCHMAKING!” Squealed all three of them, as if on cue. Candy and Grenda were no stranger to making people realize they were head over heels in love. Last Summer, they’d tried to get Grunkle Ford together with Lazy Susan, and they’d gone on two whole dates -- which they considered a success, since it was  _ twice _ as many dates as she’d gone on with Grunkle Stan.

 

“Okay okay, what’s the game plan?” asked Grenda. Mabel loved how she was always on her wavelength with stuff like this. Their matchmaking powers were gonna be so much better combined.

 

Mabel pulled out The Notebook from its super secret drawer, plopping it down between them (which was a whole ordeal, with their beard braids and all). After unbraiding their hair from each-other for this suitably important reason, Mabel flipped open to Project Dipcifica.

 

“Nice name!” Grenda commented.

 

“I can already hear the wedding bells,” said Candy dreamily.

 

“I like your enthusiasm!” said Mabel. “I already did part one. Part two’s gonna take some doing, but part three is perfect for tonight!”

 

Candy leaned over the book, squinting as she read. “Part One, get Pacifica’s phone number. Part Two, get Grunkle Stan to throw a dance party. Part Three, get Dipper to invite Pacifica to the party.” She looked up from the paper. “How are we going to get them to ask eachother out if there’s no party?”

 

“I’m glad you asked!” exclaimed Mabel, flipping to the back of her Notebook, where she kept phone numbers. “Pull out your phones, ladies. We’re setting them up on a date!”

 

~

 

Dipper had fallen asleep with the Sibling Brothers book on his chest. He woke up with a start to the sound of UFO lasers. It took a second of fumbling with his phone to remember he’d changed his notification sound, and there wasn’t an actual alien attack going on. With a sigh of relief, he opened the message. It was from... Candy, of all people.

 

_ Candy: Hi Dipper! Did you know there’s a ghost at Northwest Manor again? Pacifica said not to tell you, but I think she’s in trouble. _

 

Dipper rubbed his eyes, re-reading the message.  _ What? _ She had to be joking.

 

_ Dipper: Hi Candy. Are you sure? Pretty sure I got rid of all the ghosts last time I visited. _

 

Candy’s response came right away.

 

_ Candy: Yes!!! She is in trouble! _

 

_Dipper:_ _Ha ha. Sure she is._

 

He  _ knew _ Mabel was up to something. This just confirmed it. He’d expected something a little less obvious, but then again, Mabel got crazier than usual during sleepovers.

 

_ Candy: I’m serious!!!!! _

_ Dipper: Nice try, but I’m not that stupid. Call me if there’s a  _ real _ paranormal emergency. _

 

Yeesh. The whole Mabel-gang was in on her matchmaking escapades now. He only hoped this would blow over as quickly as it began. ...unless he was thinking too much into things, and Pacifica really  _ was _ in danger...?

 

For good measure, he texted Pacifica.

 

_ Dipper: You don’t have any ghosts haunting your house right? _

 

_ Pacifica: Haha, no. _

 

_ Dipper: Thought so. _

 

~

 

Meanwhile, Mabel was texting Pacifica.

 

_ Mabel: Hey girl!! <3 how’s life?? _

 

_ Pacifica: What’s up? _

 

_ Mabel: Nothinggg... _

 

_ Mabel: Except Dipper wants to hang out with you ;) _

 

_ Mabel: Tell me you wanna hang with him toooo <3 _

 

_ Mabel: just say the word sister, I’ll set you up! _

 

_ Pacifica: You’re still going on about that? I told you we’re not a thing! _

 

_ Mabel: Of course you arent! But you want to be ;) obvs _

 

_ Pacifica: UGH why do you even think that _

 

_ Pacifica:  _

 

_ Pacifica: Is Dipper in on this? _

 

_ Mabel: What you talking about?? _

 

_ Pacifica: He just asked me if there’s any ghosts haunting my house. _

 

_ Mabel: Awwwwwww he misses you! _

 

_ Pacifica: Sure, as a FRIEND. Get off our backs. _

 

_ Mabel: Whatever you say ;) <3 haha _

 

_ Pacifica: NO WINKY FACES _

 

_ Mabel: Okay okay, chill out! Just let matchmaker master mabel do the work :) _

 

Pacifica didn’t respond. She did that when she’d run out of retorts. Like the first time she’d called her out on her crush, and the second time, and the third time, and the fourth time... after the fourth time, Dipper got more careful with keeping his phone out of Mabel’s reach.

 

But now she had Pacifica’s number on  _ her _ phone, and she was gonna get these two together no matter what!

 

“Status report,” whispered Mabel, looking up from her phone at Candy and Grenda.

 

“He’s not going outside,” reported Grenda from the window.

 

“Dipper didn’t believe me,” said Candy. “He is too smart for us.”

 

“Aww, c’mon.” Mabel patted Candy’s head. “No one ever got this right on the first try! Besides, this was just planting the  _ seeds _ . Now we  _ know  _ they’re thinking about each other. It won’t be long before they call each other all by themselves, I guarantee it!”

 

At that moment, Mabel’s phone dinged with her notification sound (a recording of Waddles oinking).

 

_ Pacifica: DOES he like me? _

 

A grin spread across Mabel’s face. Step three was going even better than planned.

 

~

 

“PLEAASSSSEEEEEEEE?”

 

It was morning, and the dazzling rays of sunlight shining through the window were no match for Mabel’s massive sugar-hangover headache. Still, she’d come downstairs just as early as always. A sleepover host  _ always _ made Mabelcakes for their guests, no matter  _ how _ much partying had gone down last night.

 

Grunkle Stan leveled Mabel with a Look. “No parties. Not after what happened last time.”

 

“But Grunkle Stannnnnnn, Dipper won’t summon the undead again!”

 

“No, but Stanford will. Between the two of ‘em, we’d be lucky if the shack stayed standing through the night.”

 

Mabel gave him a Look of her own. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-”

 

Stan cut her off with a glare. “I ain’t saying it again. No. Parties.”

 

Mabel was about to protest when she heard Candy and Grenda’s footsteps on the stairs. “Okay.”

 

Stan looked at her suspiciously. “That’s it?”

 

Mabel shrugged, flipping a Mabelcake (pancakes with glitter, sour candies, and troll hair in them) with a flick of her wrist.

 

“Good morning Grenda!” she said in an overly cheerful tone, even for her. “Good morning Candy! Remember how I told you  _ alllll _ about the party we’re throwing at my house, for our  _ friendiversary?” _

 

Grenda and Candy exchanged a look of confusion.

 

Mabel gave them a huge wink.

 

Even if they didn’t understand quite what was happening yet, the logical conclusion was that Mabel was Up to Something, and who were they to doubt her plans? Grenda threw a massive grin onto her face, followed by Candy.

 

“Oh yeah!” they said. “Friendiversary! Our... uh...”

 

“The anniversary of the first day we met and became friends at that dance party!” Mabel said quickly, shoving a Mabelcake towards Stan to distract him from the obvious winks she was throwing the others.

 

Stan wrinkled his nose. “No thanks, sweetie. I’ll stick with coffee.”

 

Mabel set down the Mabelcake on the table, and dashed back to the frying pan to flip the next one. Each one was practically the size of a whole bowl of batter. 

 

“You don’t know about our Friendiversary, Grunkle Stan?!” She grabbed his arm and steered him into a chair. “It’s the hugest celebration of the day I got friends! Remember how sad and lonely I was before I met Candy and Grenda? The distant abyss that was between me and making a single friend? The awful misery of having no one but _Dipper_ to keep me company? This is a _big holiday_! No, the _hugest_ holiday!! And the only way to celebrate your _totally awesome party that didn’t go wrong at all and made you so much money the first time_ _that made me these awesome friends_ is to have _another_ party!”

 

“YEAH!” Grenda shouted, banging her fists on the table.

 

“It’s important to us, Mr. Pines,” added Candy, adjusting her glasses. “Would you deny the hopes and dreams of thirteen year old girls?”

 

Grunkle Stan squinted at them, scowling. Then he let out a single laugh. “HA! You think that’ll work on me? You’re teenagers now! Legally, I don’t have to listen to anything you say.”

 

“But Grunkle Stan!!!!” Mabel whined, slumping in her seat. “Friendship!!!!”

 

At that moment, Grunkle Ford came up from the basement. “What’s going on?”

 

Stan took this opportunity to stand up. Before he could answer, however, Mabel jumped in, talking a million miles a minute. “Canwethrowaparty?it’syourhouseandtheworstthingthatseverhappenedissummoningzombiesbutthatwasawholeyearagoandFRIENDSHIPand-”

 

“A party?” Ford looked from Stan to Mabel. “Why not?”

 

Stan sighed dramatically. “Ugh, fine! You can throw  _ one _ party! But if anything goes wrong, I’m gonna ban you from “friendship” for the rest of the summer!”

 

Within the next second, Stan felt the urge to adjust his hearing aid, because a deafeningly high-pitched squeal filled the shack. Before he knew it, he was being tackle-hugged by three entire teenage girls. “THANKYOUGRUNKLESTAN!” Mabel gushed. “It’s gonna be the BEST PARTY EVER!”

 

“Yeah, well tickets are gonna be twenty bucks a piece. You aren’t throwin’ a party on this property without making me some cash.”

 

“Okay!” It was clear Mabel and her friends weren’t listening to him. He could’ve told them to eat dirt and they would’ve complied. 

 

“Heh.” Stan rubbed the back of his neck once he’d pried himself free from their grip. “These kids sure do love parties.”

 

“Mm,” Ford echoed. “Makes you wish you were back in Antarctica with the death bat whales.”

 

They shared a laugh. There were plenty more adventures to go on, but they’d both wanted to be back in Gravity Falls for the Summer so they could see the kids. Neither of them will play a particularly large role in this tale, but I will say this: they are happier than they’ve ever been, and they have many adventures of their own to come.


	3. Chapter 3

Pacifica was pretty sure she didn’t like Dipper like  _ that _ . Fairly certain. Maybe 60%. 40%?

 

“Ughhh,” Pacifica moaned, sitting at the foot of her bed and hunched over her Nintendo DS. She just never  _ knew _ with boys! She would  _ think _ she liked someone, but as soon as it got romantic, something in her felt... repulsed? No, just confused. Like she was dating a plant, or a rock.

 

Maybe she just hadn’t met the right guy yet. Maybe Dipper was that guy. She  _ had _ felt...  _ something _ , when he helped her break the curse at their dinner party, and when he’d told her she was beautiful just the way she was. But friendship was so complicated and foreign to her that she was never sure whether the things she felt were platonic or romantic.

 

The worst part was, she’d felt  _ something _ when Mabel sat down beside her, back at the shack. A... distinctly different something. An unidentifiable something. And it scared her.

 

Nervousness. She’d felt nervous around  _ Mabel _ , of all people. Was it because she was Dipper’s sister? They  _ sort  _ of looked the same. It had to have been the stress of the moment. She got intense during Mario Kart. Mabel was a known distraction. That was it. Probably.

 

“Nnnnnnghhhh,” she groaned, setting aside her DS.  _ Nothing _ distracted her from video games. But Mabel did.

 

Picking up the phone she bought specifically to keep on the floor so she wouldn’t have to stand up to get her other phone, Pacifica checked her messages.

 

There were several from her old friends, both genuine and bought with cash, but nothing worth responding to. She made a point of opening all the messages and leaving them on read.

 

Then, she opened up her conversation with Mabel. Whatever feeling she was feeling right now, she had to get to the bottom of it. And the best way to do that was to go directly to the source.

 

_ Pacifica: Hey _

 

Mabel texted her back almost immediately, which was a bit of a surprise.

 

_ Mabel: OH HI! GUESS WHAT???????????????????? _

 

_ Pacifica: Okay, what? _

 

Pacifica smiled at her phone. No one exuded cheerful energy like Mabel did. She used to find it obnoxious, but it sort of grew on you.

 

_ Mabel: WE’RE THROWING A PARTY AT THE SHACK! _

 

_ Pacifica: Wow _

 

_ Pacifica: That actually sounds like fun. _

 

_ Mabel: Of course it’ll be, silly billy! I’m planning it! _

 

_ Pacifica: All by yourself? _

 

She didn’t know where she was going with this. She wasn’t going anywhere. Nowhere at all. This was a completely natural conversation. Why was she so nervous??

 

_ Mabel: Nope! Dipper’s helping out ;) _

 

_ Mabel: And you can be too... if you volunteer as Party Planner Co Chief!!! _

 

God. Her jitters were getting even worse. Maybe she  _ did _ like Dipper like that.

 

_ Pacifica: Okay. _

 

_ Mabel: What? Seriously? You swear on your family fortune?? _

 

_ Pacifica: Hey, it’s just a party. You could use some tips from an expert. _

 

_ Mabel: Wow, which experts? _

 

_ Pacifica: Me, dummy ;) _

 

_ Mabel: Haha I guess you  _ do _ throw a big party every year. Meet us at the shack! _

 

Pacifica spent several minutes typing out variations of “see you later!”, “see you there.”, and “see you”, until she changed her mind and left Mabel on read.

 

Phew. She felt like a minor trainwreck. She had to dress absolutely  _ perfectly _ . Because, Pacifica realized, she had a crush on Dipper Pines, and she was going to be visiting him any minute.

 

~

 

Mabel cheered. “Step-Whatever is going perfectly! I didn’t even have to text her first! She’s  _ head over heels _ for him, I’m telling you!”

 

“WHOO!” yelled Grenda and Candy, lifting their arms for a triple-high-five. “This is the easiest matchmaking you’ve ever done!”

 

“Much smoother than the woodpecker and Manly Dan,” said Candy with a shudder.

 

“Hahaha yeah.” Mabel put an arm around her two best friends. “We’ve come so far.”

 

A spread of party decorations, origami paper, and industrial-strength glitter lay before them. There was so much to do: find a DJ, put up posters, clear out that one room in the shack, find a party crown for a karaoke rematch... if Mabel was being honest with herself, Pacifica helping out would be worth way more than just getting her to spend time with Dipper. It was gonna be a serious helping hand, and more importantly, _fun_! She and Pacifica hardly ever got to hang out, and if Pacifica became her _actual_ _friend_ , like Candy and Grenda, by the end of this party... well, she would call this Friendiversary Party a huge success!

 

“DIPPER!” Mabel yelled, summoning her brother immediately. Or maybe he’d been standing right next to her. It was hard to tell when her brain was in so many different places at once. 

 

“Hi Mabel,” said Dipper in a suspiciously agreeable tone of voice.

 

She turned to look at him, dropping an armful of glue guns. The way he was scratching the back of his neck (and in the exact same way as Grunkle Stan, too!) gave it away. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not trying to get out of party planning, are you?”

 

“What?” Dipper laughed, his voice cracking. “No way! It’s just that... Grunkle Ford’s going on a really important mission, and if he waits any longer, the world could be at stake...” 

 

He twiddled his thumbs, avoiding her gaze. “And I didn’t really agree to this in the first place,” he mumbled almost indiscernibly.

 

Mabel felt at least three organs in her body collapse from disappointment. “ _ Dipperrrr!  _ This party planning committee would  _ fall apart _ without your super great... planning... skills...”

 

She trailed off as Ford emerged from the vending machine wearing the most badass research equipment she’d ever seen, holding a similar outfit for Dipper.

 

Mabel sighed. “Okay. Have fun on your nerdy adventure.”

 

Dipper put a hand on her shoulder, looking guilty. “Hey. I promise I’ll help after the trip. There’ll be plenty of decorating left to do.”

 

Mabel shrugged off his hand. “It’s fine.”

 

“O..okay.” Dipper ran to catch up with Grunkle Ford, who was already walking out the door. “See you later! Avenge me if I die!”

 

As they closed the door behind themselves, Ford chuckled. He’d said that once, and now Dipper always said it before they left on a mission. Mabel had never understood the expression. Avenge him from  _ what _ , exactly? His own stupidity for ducking out of an opportunity to hang out with Pacifica??

 

It was only a few seconds later that Pacifica arrived, looking bewildered and a bit flushed. She was wearing a flattering sunflower dress, and a neon yellow designer bag that no one but Pacifica could have pulled off, which was dangling at the edge of her shoulder by the strap as she stood in the doorway. “Where’s Dipper going?”

 

Mabel felt a brief yet distinct flip-flopping sensation in her stomach as she met Pacifica’s eyes. She looked so nervous and excited -- well, Pacifica didn’t exactly emote, but Mabel was more than happy to imagine how Pacifica was feeling beneath her constant cool smile. Mabel hated to be the one to tell her Dipper wouldn’t be there, and wipe all the excitement and nervousness right out of her.

 

Mabel couldn’t bring herself to smile. “He’s going on some adventure with Grunkle Ford.” As she said it, she slid the strap of Pacifica’s bag back onto her shoulder. 

 

Pacifica froze for a second, looking taken aback. “So...” she began once she’d found her words, “who  _ is _ helping?”

 

From the living room, Grenda called out, “Grenda and Candy!!!”, which was followed by the usual burst of giggles that Candy and Grenda hanging out entailed.

 

As Pacifica came in, Mabel closed the door behind her. “Thank you sooo much for coming! I’m so sorry Dipper couldn’t make it--”

 

Pacifica bit her lip ever so slightly and allowed herself to be guided to the living room, where Candy and Grenda were armed to the teeth with party supplies.

 

“Hello Pacifica!” Candy waved. All ten fingers had tape dangling at the tips.

 

They settled into a rhythm, once Pacifica learned how to use things like tape dispensers and manually inflated balloons. The other girls peppered her with questions about Dipper, along with questions about everything else under the sun, which was starting to be less annoying than Pacifica had first thought. It felt nice. Like having... friends? Friends who teased you and questioned you and had their own thoughts and opinions and couldn’t be bribed to shut up.

 

She found herself volunteering for the crafts that put her closest to Mabel. She was just more comfortable with the girl she knew the best, she reasoned. And besides, she had questions of her own. Pretty soon, she and Mabel were joking and laughing, and there were only a couple of awkward silences as Pacifica realized her social skills weren’t quite as indominable as her bank account. 

 

Candy and Grenda were nice, too. Their complete disregard for being ‘polite’ or ‘ladylike’ was both baffling and inspiring. Maybe even a little intimidating. There was so much Pacifica had missed out on by being raised to be beautiful and quiet, and she felt that ache especially when surrounded by all these happy, outgoing personalities.

 

They would have kept going until the sun set, and would have turned it into a sleepover if Grunkle Stan hadn’t intervened. The girls were all flinging glitter at each other when he walked in and got a faceful of the stuff. “Alright, that’s it! Everyone home!”

 

With much sighing and dragging of feet, Candy and Grenda went to the bathroom to wash the glitter out of their hair. Mabel and Pacifica hung back in the living room, admiring the pile of party decorations they’d put together so far.

 

Mabel flashed Pacifica a goofy smile, pointing at her hair. “You’re gonna  _ dazzle _ your parents when you walk in that front door.”

 

Pacifica tried not to think about it. “Not if I scrub hard enough.” She didn’t particularly want to go into the bathroom with Candy and Grenda. It felt nice to be alone with Mabel, for once.

 

The sudden warm feeling in her gut reminded her of the Dipper Dilemma. They were both sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch. Pacifica bit her lip again, wondering how to phrase it. “Mabel?”

 

“Yeah?” She looked so much like him, just sitting here without buckets of hyperactive energy making her look like some kind of mischievous goddess come down to wreak havoc on earth.

 

Oh no. She was thinking about him now, and blushing like an idiot. Pacifica realized she’d paused for way too long, and now she had to say something... “You really think Dipper likes me?”

 

Mabel grinned, shoving her lightly in the shoulder. “Absolutely! Every time I bring it up, he gets sooo defensive. He probably didn’t want to help tonight because he’s too nervous to be around you.”

 

Pacifica laughed nervously. “He gets nervous about  _ everything _ .”

 

Mabel’s grin didn’t falter. “Not like he gets nervous about _ you _ .” She emphasized this with several pokes to Pacifica’s stomach.

 

Pacifica lurched backwards, laughing. “ _ Hey!” _

 

Although she was in her nicest casual dress, and she’d never done anything like this before, Pacifica tickled Mabel back. 

 

Mabel had the most beautiful laugh. Not that she hadn’t heard Mabel’s laugh before, but most of the time it punctuated some joke she’d made. This laugh was spontaneous and rapid-fire, like she couldn’t control it. It sounded so bizarre and genuine, Pacifica couldn’t help but laugh too. She laughed without worrying about how ladylike she sounded, and it came out like a guffaw.

 

Soon, Candy and Grenda came running out of the bathroom, now 80% sparkle free, and yelled “TICKLE FIGHT!” before joining the battle, their own unique laughs erupting with the rest of them. And Pacifica felt the oddest thing yet. She felt... disappointed. Like the tickle fight with Mabel had been something... different, without Candy and Grenda there.

 

Maybe it was just that she didn’t know Candy and Grenda quite as well as she now knew Mabel.

 

Yes, that was all. After the tickle fight, she and Mabel went to the bathroom together to wash out the glitter in their hair. In the mirror, Pacifica could see how impossibly tangled both of their hair was. She looked so dishelved, she looked more like a blonde version of Mabel than like herself.

 

Mabel grinned at her reflection. “Lookin’ good,” she said with a pair of finger guns. 

 

Pacifica marveled at Mabel's confidence. Not that she was  _ wrong _ , but covering your face and hair entirely with glitter was a look that few could pull off.

 

“Easy for you to say,” Pacifica quipped, turning on the sink faucet and waiting for the water to be perfectly warm. “I look like the time I rubbed garbage on my face.”

 

Mabel put her hands on her hips. “Are you kidding? You look good, girl! Like a... dashing adventurer, or like, if that girl from the Wizard of Oz was also a rock star. And all that makeup... my mom doesn't let me wear it, but it looks like so much fun!”

 

Pacifica’s stomach flip-flopped. No one had ever called her a  _ dashing adventurer _ before. It made her wonder what she'd look like if she cut off her hair and let the blonde dye fade away.

 

With the water warm, she splashed it on her face, and a tornado of multicolored glitter came off, swirling down the drain. “You've never worn makeup before?”

 

“Welllllll...” Mabel scrunched up her face while she considered it. “I wore some with Gideon one time, and I got some from unicorns once, but that was technically blood.” She laughed. “So not really!”

 

Pacifica started combing glitter out of her hair. “You don't want to start out looking like a disaster. I can teach you how it works.”

 

Mabel squealed so loudly, Pacifica had to cover her ears. “MAKEOVERS?! OH MY GOSH, Pacifica, you should come to a sleepover with me and Candy and Grenda! They bring makeup but it's like  _ kids  _ makeup _.  _ You could teach us how to be.....” Mabel batted her eyelashes and leaned close. “ _ Real women.” _

 

Pacifica leaned away from her with a snort. “It's just  _ makeup _ . It's like... arts and crafts for your face. You'll be a natural.”

 

Mabel took a couple seconds before she leaned away. “Pshhhh, of course I will with  _ you _ teaching me. Oh, you're coming to the party, right?”

 

“Of course,” Pacifica replied. “I wouldn't miss the party I blew up balloons with my  _ mouth _ for. --and if you bring up the date night theme again, I  _ will _ kill you.”

 

Mabel giggled. “Oh, I won't. I woooon’t.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

 

The glitter, shockingly enough, was almost entirely gone from her hair. Pacifica gave it another run-through, then moved over so Mabel could take her turn. “...who are you going with?” She found herself asking.

 

Mabel splashed her face vigorously with water, which seemed to get her  _ more _ covered with glitter. “Probably just Candy and Grenda. We work better as a flirting team, and Marius isn't here -- Grenda’s boyfriend -- so we don’t wanna leave her by herself.”

 

“How generous of you.”

 

“Not really! That’s just what friends do!”

 

“Huh.” Pacifica smoothed down her hair, and re-arranged a couple of her fake eyelashes. “Interesting.”

 

She didn’t know much about genuine friendship, she had to concede -- but she did like Mabel and her friends. They waved goodbye to each other several glitter-filled minutes later, and Pacifica walked out the door, smelling like Pine.


	4. Chapter 4

A week came and went in the blink of an eye. Pacifica didn't even need to sneak out of the house to go the Pines’ house this time -- town-wide parties were fair game. Her mother even took her out to buy a brand new dress.

 

She’d been texting Mabel every day. They talked about boys, and makeup, and weirder things that made her fall a little bit in love, in a just-friends way. Mabel had set her up with Dipper as her date, and she felt more and more nervous as the party’s day approached.

 

Meanwhile, Mabel was knitting friendship sweaters for the entire town. She’d poked and prodded Dipper all week to invite someone to the dance, and (after jokingly saying he was going to invite that one brother of Wendy’s who was his age) he texted Pacifica all on his own. It was an awkward exchange, but that just contributed to his nervousness. He and Pacifica both spent the remainder of the week pacing back and forth, wondering about the littlest things, from what to wear, to how much product to put in their hair, to what they’d even  _ talk _ about.

 

Mabel had cheerfully told Dipper, “if it all goes up in flames, I’ll dance with Pacifica for you!”. He thought she was joking -- probably. For some unfathomable reason, she’d gotten it into her head that Dipper and Pacifica  _ Liked _ each-other. 

 

_ Did _ they Like each-other?

 

Just thinking about it made his palms sweaty. Grunkle Ford had stolen him a suit, which looked kind of dorky if he was honest with himself, but it was similar to the thing he’d worn to the ghost busting adventure at Pacifica’s mansion, so he figured it couldn’t go over  _ too _ badly, and maybe if a dork like him thought an outfit was dorky it did a double-reacharound to being  _ non _ -dorky--

 

He stopped himself from continuing his train-wreck of a train of thought.

 

It was the day of the dance.

 

And Mabel wasn’t sure whether she was feeling excited or anxious. Maybe both? She’d chugged enough Mabel juice that she’d usually be in a sugar-daze by now, but this time she still felt hyper aware of every little detail, like the smudges on the posters, or how some of the glowsticks were already glowing less brightly than other glow sticks.

 

Before anything could happen or anyone could arrive, she saw a sight that sent her into even wilder jitters than before: Pacifica arriving in a limousine. 

 

She stepped out in a dark blue dress, with a purple ribbon around the waist. Her hair was braided into some complicated shape that she somehow pulled off perfectly, and she was holding a brighter purple handbag. 

Mabel lost her breath for a second.

 

Then she remembered herself. “Pacifica! Come in! Hahaha, you’re early. We’re still -- we finished putting up decorations, but I -- I, uh --”

 

Pacifica gave her a once-over and smiled. “Cute dress.”

 

“Uhhhhh..... Thanks!” She didn’t know what she was feeling but it was like her brain had disconnected from her mouth, and she was sweaty, and the light-up sweater was too warm for once.

 

When they went inside, Pacifica pulled Mabel aside by the arm. “Listen. I brought the bare basics, if you want a makeup lesson before your party or whatever.”

 

Mabel squeaked with surprise when Pacifica grabbed her arm, and responded with a nod. “Hey, have you even ever been to my room? There’s a big mirror in there that’s  _ perfect _ for makeout- I mean, makeovers.” She blushed, embarrassed at the non-sequitur of a slip up.

 

They headed upstairs. Dipper made the exact squeak that Mabel had made earlier when Pacifica entered the room. “Pacifica!” he said with a nervous laugh. “I, uh, I’ll see you later! Right! You look busy -- and good! You look good!” 

 

As he fled the room, they could see him facepalming at his word choice from a mile away. Mabel grinned.  _ Made for each-other _ .

 

Pacifica grabbed a stool and slid it towards the mirror with surprising strength. “Ok, you sit here, and I’ll give you the best makeup you’ve ever had in your  _ life _ .”

 

Mabel tapped her feet against the floor as she sat in the chair, spinning in circles. 

 

Pacifica reached out and touched Mabel’s cheek, leaning forward to inspect her face. “Hold still! Hmm... do you want more of a mermaid look, or a rock star look?”

 

Mabel didn’t respond. She was looking at Pacifica with a look she’d never seen on her face before. Well -- a look she’d never seen her have when looking at another girl.

 

Then she seemed to register Pacifica’s question, because with a start, she blurted out her answer. “Rock star!”

 

Pacifica broke contact with Mabel’s face, opening up her bag to reveal an expanding case full of makeup every color of the rainbow. 

 

“ _ That’s _ your basic kit?” Mabel asked incredulously.

Pacifica rolled her eyes. “You think looking this good is cheap? Remind me to show you my whole makeup room sometime.”

 

Mabel giggled. “Ok. What colors are you picking?” She craned her neck to see over Pacifica’s shoulder. “Can I have that one?”

 

Pacifica lightly shoved her back into her stool. “No! I’m picking colors that match your face. Let the expert do the work, here.”

 

She began with foundation. As she dabbed it on Mabel’s cheeks, she giggled the entire time. “It tickles!”   
  


Pacifica leaned in even closer to apply the makeup with a steady hand. It felt different, putting it on someone else’s face. And she could feel Mabel’s breath on her cheeks as she worked. It was... distracting. 

 

Several layers of eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick later, Pacifica declared Mabel’s makeup to be done.

 

Mabel threw her arms around Pacifica. “Aaaaaah, I LOVE IT! Thank youuuuu!”

 

Pacifica pried herself out of Mabel’s grip. She’d spent too long perfectly placing her hair for a hug from Mabel’s (surprisingly strong) arms to throw it out of balance.

 

They realized that she’d spent so long on Mabel’s makeup, in fact, that the party was already starting.

 

With a scream of mock-terror, Mabel ran downstairs, grabbing Pacifica by the hand and dragging her down the stairs with her. 

 

“ _ Mabel!” _ Pacifica protested. Suddenly the reality of  _ dancing with Dipper _ and  _ holding hands with Dipper _ crashed down on her, and she was a blushing mess, and she did  _ not _ want to enter the main room where music was already blasting, and she just knew she was going to mess something up--

 

Mabel gave her a big thumbs-up, and slid her hands into Dipper’s hands (where had he come from?? Were they in the dance room already???), and vanished like the mischievous chaos goddess she was.

 

Dipper looked surprisingly sharp, for once. It reminded her of the outfit she’d given him at Northwest Manor, back when they hated each-other’s guts.

 

He gave her a shaky smile. “H-hey Pacifica.”

“Hey,” Pacifica responded, her stomach dissolving into butterflies.

 

Dipper laughed briefly. “I can’t believe Mabel did all this just so we’d dance.”

 

Pacifica looked into his eyes and as they stepped a little closer together her breath caught. “I-- I know, right? The whole  _ town _ is here.”

 

Dipper made the first move, hesitantly taking her waist with one hand and leading her in a passable dance. They didn’t say anything for what felt like a while, simply moving in time with the beat.

 

The longer they stayed there, the less nervous Pacifica got. All the butterflies stopped fluttering in her stomach, and Dipper’s timid touch felt a little awkward, but nothing more. When she risked meeting Dipper’s eyes, she had a feeling the same had happened to him. He now looked less like a nervous wreck, and more like the confident, adventurous guy she’d hung out with last Summer. 

 

She waited for the butterflies to come back again. They didn’t.

 

“Dipper?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You’re not, like, hoping we’re more than friends, right?”

 

Everything was romantic enough under the disco-ball lighting. Flashing purple and blue and green across their faces. Mabel had set the song to a slow love ballad, and couples leaned against each other, swaying as they got lost in each other’s eyes.

 

Dipper didn’t hesitate to answer. Some tension in his face she hadn’t noticed before loosened. “No, definitely not. Video game rivals is way better than... whatever romance is supposed to be.” He laughed. “I think Mabel made me nervous, but I don’t... actually... feel that way about you.”

 

“Me too,” Pacifica said quickly. As she said it, they simultaneously had the same thought, and leaned away from each other, breaking off the waist and shoulder contact.

 

“So... Mabel made you nervous too?” Pacifica asked him.

 

“Yeah... she’s good at hyping people up. I still can’t believe she talked Grunkle Stan into letting us hold a party this Summer.”

 

Their conversation flowed much more smoothly, with the Mabel Matchmaking wrinkle smoothed out. They talked about video games, and the weird ways of the woods, and about parents, and crushes, and everything else under the sun. After a little while of dancing across from each other on the dance floor, they moved over to the food bar (where Grunkle Stan was piling his plate full of marshmallows, for some inconceivable reason), and hovered there, laughing and talking.

 

Meanwhile, Mabel was having the weirdest night of her entire actual living  _ life _ . Candy and Grenda were happily spying on Pacifica and Dipper’s First Date with her, but it didn’t feel anywhere near as satisfying as she’d expected it to.

 

Here they were, laughing and talking, getting along like a house on fire -- it was exactly what she’d written down in the plan! She should be thrilled for them! But the strangest, most terrible feeling was bubbling up in her gut. The longer she watched Pacifica and Dipper dancing together, the more sick to her stomach she felt.

 

Finally, Candy and Grenda noticed her ailment. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Grenda asked. “Did you eat too many bacon cupcakes already?”

 

“No....” Mabel sighed, not sure exactly why she felt so weird.

 

“Well  _ I _ have,” Grenda announced, smashing another cupcake into her mouth. “Why did I  _ do _ that?”

 

Candy gasped. “Look everyone! Pacifica and Dipper have stopped dancing!”

 

“Really?” Mabel turned her head faster than she ever had in her life. The only way she could explain the feeling she felt next was  _ excitement _ . Which didn’t make any sense at all. And while she was usually all about not making sense, this was something different.

 

Candy put a hand on her shoulder. “You sensed it was not meant to be, didn’t you.”

 

“I’m sorry Mabel,” Grenda added. “Project Dipcifica is a failure.”

 

“It’s okay.” Mabel looked at the ground. “Look guys, I’m gonna get us some punch.”

 

“Okay...” Candy adjusted her glasses, looking concerned. “See you later?”

 

“I’ll be right back.” Mabel headed for the food table, but felt that same flip-flopping sensation in her stomach when she saw Dipper and Pacifica standing together, laughing like they knew each other more than anyone else in the world. So she found herself walking away from the punch, moving aimlessly through the crowd.

 

She could see Grunkle Stan and Ford sitting in some chairs with McGucket beside them, grinning at each other and seeing how high they could throw their marshmallows into the air before catching them in their mouths. No, she didn’t want to interrupt that... the Corduroy boys were headlocking each other as usual... one of them was her age, but she didn’t feel like flirting with anyone tonight... Wendy was sitting beside a girl Mabel didn’t recognize...

 

Wendy it was. Mabel headed towards her, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. As she got closer, she realized Wendy was making googly-eyes at the girl beside her. They were leaning awfully close together, and the other girl was resting her head on Wendy’s shoulder. Then Wendy turned towards the other girl and kissed her softly on the lips.

 

Mabel stared, slowing down as she got within a few feet of them. Wendy pulled away from the kiss, giving Mabel her usual easy grin. “Hey Mabel!”

 

“Hi......” something in Mabel’s brain short circuited.

 

Wendy patted the empty chair to her right. “What’s eatin’ at ya?”

 

Mabel paused before sliding into the chair beside her, and letting out a deep sigh. “I don’t know. I set up Pacifica with Dipper, and everything went perfectly, but I feel all  _ weird _ inside.”

 

Wendy squeezed her girlfriend’s hand. “This is Mabel. She saved the world last Summer. Coolest twelve year old I know.”

 

“Hi,” said the other girl, leaning forward to wave at Mabel. “I’m Anna.”

 

Mabel waved back, smiling at Wendy’s introduction. Her eyes wandered down to Anna and Wendy’s intertwined fingers. “So are you like... girlfriends?”

 

“Yup.” Wendy gave Anna another casual kiss.

 

Mabel went quiet, processing this.

 

“I didn’t know girls could  _ like _ other girls...”

 

Wendy laughed. “It’s a revelation, huh?” She ruffled Mabel’s hair. “So, what were you saying about Pacifica?”

 

Mabel leaned against Wendy’s arm. “I thought she and Dipper were  _ made _ for eachother. But it turns out they’re-- it’s not like that. And I spent so much time trying to get them together, too. That’s why I threw this whole party!”

 

“Woah.” Wendy smirked. “You threw this whole party for Pacifica?”

“And Dipper,” Mabel protested, although she didn't know what she was protesting.

 

She stared out at the dance floor, pointedly trying  _ not _ to look for where Pacifica and Dipper were no doubt having the time of their lives. “Pacifica did my makeup, and I don't even have someone to dance with. I think... I think I'm jealous that Dipper at least  _ has _ a date. I spent so much time planning, I didn't think to ask anyone.”

 

“Mhmm,” Wendy nodded. “Mabel, I don't think that's the problem. There's  _ tons _ of boys at this party. You could ask out any of them.”

 

“Like  _ who? _ ”

 

“That one.” Wendy pointed out a tall, gangly kid with braces, hanging out with a group of other guys her age. “He's the  _ total _ package.”

 

Mabel buried her face deeper in Wendy's arm. “......”

 

Wendy poked her face. “Look, how about  _ that  _ guy?”

 

He was perfectly chiseled, with a fabulous surfer tan that would've sent her head over heels a month ago. But had she ever actually been in love? Love felt like an impossible entity. She'd spent years obsessing over boys, but Pacifica made her feel something different. Something that made her doubt if she'd ever truly been in love before now.

 

Except she  _ wasn't  _ in love with Pacifica. She was just..... disappointed that her matchmaking didn't work out.

 

Remembering Wendy had asked her a question, Mabel sat up straighter. “Him? No way.”

 

She stood up. “Thanks for the talk, Wendy. And nice to meet you, Anna!”

 

Wendy and Anna waved lazily at her, before she ventured back into the crowd.

 

-

 

Talking to Dipper was all fine and good, but Pacifica found herself glancing at Mabel more and more. The revelation that she  _ wasn't  _ interested in Dipper had sent her reeling through every emotion from relief to confusion to panic.

 

Because there was definitely  _ some _ kind of feeling there. But what if... she'd been chasing after the wrong twin? What if it was  _ Mabel _ who sent her heart racing?

 

Dipper noticed the direction of her stares, and stopped going on about the latest Super Smash Bros game. “Uh... I'm gonna go see what Grunkle Ford is doing... if you want to hang out with them...?”

 

Pacifica snapped back to attention, shaking off her dazed expression. “Oh, okay. See you later!”

 

She didn't watch him leave. With an unexplainable, building sense of excitement, she made her way towards Mabel.

 

Mabel, Candy, and Grenda were having a who-can-make-the-most-accurate-chicken-impersonation contest when Pacifica arrived. For some reason, when she met Mabel’s eyes, the other two wiggled their eyebrows teasingly.

 

“We’re going to get juice,” said Grenda abruptly, dragging Candy off by the arm. Their giggles could be heard far into the distance. Leaving Mabel and Pacifica alone.

 

Surrounded by people, but alone.

 

The butterflies were back in Pacifica’s stomach with a vengeance. She wasn’t sure why Mabel was so quiet. It scared her. Mabel usually filled every silence with a smile or a joke, or a wild remark.

 

This time, Pacifica was the first to start talking. “Hey.”

 

Mabel smiled shyly. “Hi.”

 

Pacifica took a step closer to her. “Dancing with Dipper didn’t really work out. We’re still friends, but... yeah.” 

 

Mabel was blushing --  _ was _ she blushing or was Pacifica just imagining it?? And she replied with a wave of her hand. “Psshhh, that’s fine. That’s great! I mean, love who you want, right?”

 

“Yeah.” Pacifica pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I heard there was gonna be, like, a karaoke contest tonight.”

 

“Oh yeah! There’s-- wait, you helped set it up, silly billy!” Mabel fell back into her (adorable) silly grins and loud voice. “Do you wanna be on our karaoke team? The limit’s three people usually, but we could add you in, or...” Mabel looked around the room, scanning for Candy and Grenda. “They wouldn’t mind if we sing on our own team and them on their own team, probably!”

 

In a blur, Pacifica found herself sitting beside Mabel, choosing karaoke songs together. There remained an inch of space between them, both insignificant and the greatest distance she’d ever laid eyes on in her entire life.

Mabel waved a hand in front of her. “Pacifica?? You okay?”

 

How hadn’t she seen it before?  _ Mabel _ was the one she got butterflies in her stomach just thinking about.  _ Mabel _ was the one who was everything she wanted to be, and made her laugh, and made her feel like she was becoming a better person just by sitting next to her, and who knitted her sweaters and had the cutest smile in all of Gravity Falls--

 

Pacifica blinked. “Huh? Song?” She scanned through the titles. She’d picked half of these songs imagining what it would be like to sing it to Dipper while he sat and watched (daring as he was when it came to the supernatural, public performances were another matter entirely). Now, she was picturing Mabel standing across from her as she sang.

 

She should’ve gone for something loud and fast. She should’ve gone with something unique. But when it came time for her to say words out of her mouth, the title that came out was “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.” 

 

“--it’s a classic,” she added defensively, realizing which song she’d chosen after the fact.

 

Mabel grinned. “It  _ is _ a classic, and I love it! We’re gonna  _ kill _ the competition.”

 

Pacifica laughed. “We won the karaoke contest last year. Of course we’re going to win.”

 

They exchanged a Look, filled to the brim with their shared competitive streak.

 

-

 

Pacifica and Mabel were just friends. 

 

_ I can’t help falling in love with you-- _

 

As they danced around the stage, leaning so close they were cheek-to-cheek to share the microphone, Mabel bringing 75% of the energy to the performance before Pacifica loosened up and caught on...

 

_ Darling, so it goes-- _

 

...they were just friends. 

 

_ \--some things are meant to be. _

 

Mabel took Pacifica’s hand and squeezed it tight, and suddenly they were facing each other as they sang the words.

  
  


_ Take my hand, take my whole life too-- _

 

Did Mabel’s voice falter? Was she getting stagefright? Or...

 

_ \--for I can’t help falling in love with you. _

 

Pacifica knew exactly why she’d chosen this song. But, she wondered, did she really know why Mabel had agreed to it? 

 

_ For I can’t help falling in love with you. _

 

The stage lights (where had they gotten stage lights?) made Pacifica’s face feel sweaty. The crowd cheered, but none as loudly as Candy and Grenda, who shared knowing smiles and wiggled their eyebrows at Dipper sitting not too far away in the crowd, whispering “your sister has a cruuuush”, which was met with rolling his eyes on Dipper’s part.

 

Before she knew it they’d walked off the stage, and she had no idea what had just happened. Her heart started beating again, and she could breathe, and she felt even more nervous than she did after introducing herself to important people at her parent’s parties. 

 

Mabel’s breathing was unsteady. She smiled at Pacifica. “You did great.”

 

Pacifica smiled back. “So were you.”

 

It took several seconds for either of them to realize they were still holding hands from before.

 

They both saw the moment of realization in each other’s eyes, but neither of them moved to break the hand hold.

 

Pacifica swallowed. Her stomach felt like an entire cave of bats had been startled in there and were now flapping around wildly. She’d never felt this before, not even  _ after _ kissing boys. And she’d never considered dating  _ girls _ before.

 

“Mabel?” Pacifica said softly.

 

Mabel opened her mouth to respond. At that moment, Grunkle Stan showed up beside them. “Mabel, sweetie! You did great!” he exclaimed, sweeping her into a hug.

 

Mabel made a face as she was hugged tightly enough to make her eyes bulge out. “Gah, c’mon Grunkle Stan! I was having a  _ moment _ here!”

 

Stan ignored her protests, setting her back down on the floor. “Now, your ol’ Grunkle Stan needs some help with the ticket booth. I can’t find Wendy or Dipper anywhere, and these people won’t rip themselves off.”

 

Mabel looked crestfallen. “Do I  _ have _ to?”

 

Stan pursed his lips. “I let you throw a party against my better judgement, and-”

 

“Okay, okay,” Mabel interrupted. “I’m on it!”

 

She waved at Pacifica as she left, throwing her an apologetic grin. Pacifica waved back, internally kicking herself.  _ Why did you have to hesitate for so long? _

 

As she made her way through the crowd, she passed Wendy dancing with her girlfriend, and Dipper striking up conversation with that one Corduroy boy who was his age. She didn’t feel like she knew Candy and Grenda well enough to talk to  _ them _ , and hanging out with Mabel while she was collecting tickets just seemed weird...

 

Pacifica ended up leaving the party early. She never did find out if they’d won the karaoke contest, nor did she care. The point hadn’t been the prize, this time. It had been so much more.


	5. Chapter 5

“Who’re you texting?” Dipper asked, scrolling through his Pokemon collection to figure out which ones he’d use to battle Grunkle Ford on Pokemon Go. 

 

Mabel didn’t hear him at first. She was absentmindedly beatboxing as she typed, sitting upside down on the couch in a position that anyone else would’ve found intolerably painful. 

 

“Mabel?” Dipper asked again.

 

“Huh?” she stopped typing, glancing up at him (or down, from her position).

 

“What’re you doing?”

 

She raised her eyebrows and puffed out her cheeks, making a silly face for no reason. “Texting Pacifica.” Mabel squirmed around until she was sitting upright. “You know what I wanna do? I wanna invite her over for a sleepover. Just us.”

 

“That sounds... fun.” Dipper tapped on his Magikarp. It still hadn’t leveled up enough to evolve into Gyarados. He’d had it for like a  _ year _ now.

 

“Mhmm!” Mabel looked back at her phone.

 

~

 

Pacifica loved texting back and forth with Mabel, but she hated that they hadn’t talked about what had happened after the karaoke.

 

Maybe nothing had happened. Maybe that was it. Maybe Mabel was straight and she just was really affectionate with all of her friends and Pacifica should stop thinking about those five seconds between realizing they were holding hands and Stan showing up to ruin their moment.

 

Their “moment.” What had Mabel  _ meant _ by that? What kind of moment? What did a “moment” even  _ mean _ ? She’d thought about this way too much. She’d give anything to know what Mabel had really been thinking when she said that, but it wasn’t like she could just  _ show up _ on Mabel’s doorstep--

 

Her phone dinged with the notification sound.

 

_ Mabel: Wanna have a sleepover? :D _

 

Oh. 

 

She didn’t know what she meant by “oh”, but it sure was a powerful feeling. A feeling she couldn’t put into words other than by thinking softly, nervously, hopefully to herself, “oh”.

 

_ Pacifica: When? _

 

She was dealing in monosyllabic language. That was fine. This was all fine. Nothing nerve wracking about it. Nope.

 

_ Mabel: Friday! That’s the best sleepover day. My ban on making more mabel juice gets lifted so you can have some too :))) _

 

_ Pacifica: OK _

 

Was that not enough? She couldn’t tell, all of a sudden. Would it come across as cold?

 

_ Pacifica: Can’t wait to see you. _

 

There. That was the truth. Pacifica wondered who else would be there, but deep in her gut, she hoped to be with Mabel alone. And maybe this time they wouldn’t be interrupted by Grunkle Stan.


	6. Chapter 6

It took ages for Pacifica to arrive at the Mystery Shack on Friday night. Ages in which Mabel made so much Mabel juice she was banned from making it for another week. Ages in which Pacifica wiped off her makeup five times before deciding on a particular look. Ages full of conspicuous silence, which neither felt brave enough to fill.

 

Ages that ended, thankfully, with Pacifica arriving on Mabel’s doorstep, wearing jeans for the first time in a long while. Her bag was much bigger than usual, and no amount of makeup could disguise the warm shade of pink that filled her whole face.

 

The same shade of pink was spread across Mabel’s face.

 

It was probably just the lighting.

 

Mabel was pretty sure she'd ingested too much troll doll hair for one day -- which she'd previously thought was impossible. Pacifica looked, if possible, even more breathtaking than she had under the stage spotlight. She'd seen a million people stand on this doorstep before, but Pacifica made the flickering fluorescent light above her look positively angelic.

 

After a mutually shared moment of terrified, excited grins, Pacifica was the first to break the silence.

 

“Hey.”

 

Mabel gave her a bone-crushing hug. “Eeeeeee! You're here!” She pulled away. “And your hair smells like _angel souls_ ”

 

Pacifica’s terrified, blank expression broke into a small smile. “It's called ‘Floral Sunrise.’ I brought some with me, if you want to try it.”

 

Mabel dragged Pacifica in by the arm. “I would _love_ to. But first, I _have_ to show you _everything_ I've got planned for tonight. Number One is makeovers. I've got sooo much nail polish, and you never leave your house without makeup, oooh, AND I got _hair curlers_. And I made enough Mabel Juice to last us all night, and glitter, and pizza, and plastic lizards-”

 

Mabel stopped talking abruptly as they took a turn into the living room, where Dipper, Soos, and the Grunkles were watching TV. Dipper gave her a raised eyebrow and a smirk that made her giggle for slightly too long. Then, before Pacifica could say anything or do anything, Mabel whisked her away again, up the stairs and into her room.

 

They passed the time in the typical sleepover way -- except it wasn’t typical, because Mabel was quieter and gentler than usual, and Pacifica laughed without worrying about being too loud or too obnoxious. By the end of an hour, the tension in the air faded, and both girls remembered how to be themselves. (Pacifica wasn’t entirely sure what it meant to “be herself”, but she was trying her best.)

 

Pacifica spat out the Mabel juice at first, but chugged the rest of her glass after Mabel triple dog dared her. Mabel made a horrified face at the idea of picking _matte_ colors for her eyeshadow instead of sparkly ones, but let Pacifica show her what it feels like to be subtle (in exchange for showing Pacifica what it feels like to have eyebrows so sparkly that flecks of glitter get in your eyes for the rest of the night).

 

Mabel was having so much fun, she almost forgot about the unspoken question bouncing back and forth between them, like it had been since their karaoke duet. That is, until the two of them wound up lying on the floor beside each other, staring at the ceiling and naming bits of mold.

 

Pacifica pointed at the large one in the corner. “Let’s call that one... Patricia.”

 

Mabel snorted. “Nooo, that one already has a name! He’s Mermando!”

 

“Mermando?” Pacifica turned to face Mabel. “What kind of name is that?”

 

“Looong story... basically, he’s a merman who lives in the middle of the ocean with his sea manatee wife. And also my first kiss.”

 

Pacifica squinted at the mold. “So you named... a piece of mold after him?”

 

Mabel snorted again, turning to face Pacifica. “It’s my favorite one, but maybe I _should_ rename it. How about Pacifica!”

 

Pacifica wrinkled her nose, but she couldn’t hide the grin from her face. “You’d name a piece of _mold_ after me? Gee, thanks.”

 

Mabel winked. “It’s ‘cause you grew on me, like mold on a log cabin ceiling. Remember the time you made fun of me on Pioneer Day in front of the whole town?”

 

Pacifica winced. “Yeah.” She wanted to apologize. To say something about everything that had happened between them last summer. But before she could figure out how to even begin, the moment had passed, and she was lost in Mabel’s eyes anyway, and

 

“Have you ever kissed someone?” Mabel asked, staring back up at the ceiling abruptly.

 

Pacifica kept looking at Mabel, making a sort of scrunched-up face while she thought about it. “Sort of. Tons of boys have kissed my hand, at like, formal dances. One of them even kissed my cheek.”

Mabel was still staring determinedly at the ceiling. While the words coming out of her mouth were, “So you’ve never kissed someone before?”, she didn’t say it with the ‘Oh My God I Can’t Believe This’ tone of voice she usually threw around when talking about boy stuff. She said it so quietly, Pacifica wondered if she’d misheard.

 

“I guess not,” Pacifica replied, and as she said it, her heart sped up all of a sudden.

 

Pacifica looked away from Mabel, staring at the patch of mold on the ceiling that was now named after her. “I’ve never really... _wanted_ to do that... with a boy. I think.”

 

Mabel sat up in a single, swift, strangely mechanical movement. Pacifica followed suit, and they leaned against the wall, staring in no particular direction. Mabel fidgeted with her hair, chewing on her bottom lip like it was a stick of bubblegum. “Last summer, I decided I was gonna be boy crazy. So I flirted with every guy I saw. But I still don’t know if I actually _liked_ any of them.”

 

Mabel coughed up a strand of troll doll hair.

 

Then she continued. “Is it the eyes? Or a really cool sense of humor? Or wavy blonde hair? How do you _know_?”

 

Pacifica got an idea. An idea that made her heart stop in her chest, and her muscles tense, and a tentative smile pull at the corners of her lips. Miraculously, she brought it into action before she had time to think about it too hard.

 

Pacifica scooted closer to Mabel. It was dizzying to be so bold, but here she was, and Mabel hadn’t scooted away from her.

 

This action inspired an idea in Mabel’s head, as a matter of fact. An idea that made her stomach twist into knots. An idea that she acted on in an instant, before she could talk herself out of it.

 

She reached out with the speed and agility of someone who had beat half the town at arm wrestling, and held Pacifica’s hand.

 

For a moment, neither of them knew what to say or do.

 

Then Pacifica answered Mabel’s question. “I’m not an expert, but I think you’re supposed to just _know_.”

 

“Know _what_?” Mabel asked, wearing an almost teasing smile, and leaning a little bit forward, but not too much.

 

Pacifica didn’t reply. She thought about their intertwined fingers, and about Mabel’s face, and her laugh, and about-- well, mostly her face. It was so very close. How had they gotten so close? Suddenly it clicked in her head that they were really doing this, but both of them were moving so slowly, so haltingly, it was like a very first kiss. And it was, in a way.

 

Once they met lips, they lingered there. Then, even more slowly than before, they broke away from the kiss. Pacifica felt a rush of warmth spread from the deepest part of her gut to the tips of her fingers and toes. Maybe her favorite part wasn’t kissing, but the moment right afterward where she got to admire Mabel’s eyes, inches away from her face, without having to pretend she was looking at something else.

 

Both of them melted into a bright red grin, their noses crinkling and their eyes going squinty as they leaned away from each other, still holding hands. After the initial moment of looking away at the ground shyly, they met each other’s eyes again, and grinned even wider.

 

For a long moment, they simply smiled and blushed, and recovered from the sensation of romance and longing and realizing there _was_ a spark -- not just a one-sided crush, or something that was really just friendship -- but a genuine spark.

 

After the pause, Mabel was the first one to speak. “I Like you.”

 

Pacifica couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather say in the world, so she said, “I Like you too.”

 

Pacifica reached out with her free hand, wiping glitter gently from Mabel’s face. “You have... some sparkles there...”

 

Mabel grinned. “Next time, one of us can put on glitter, and we can transfer it to the other one’s face like that.”

 

Pacifica laughed. “It works like that with lipstick, too.”

 

Mabel rushed forward, almost poking Pacifica’s eye out with her nose, and gave her a big kiss on the cheek, leaving a lipstick mark. “Like that!”

 

“Hey!” Pacifica stood up (but their fingers stayed intertwined), kissing Mabel’s hand so as to leave a lipstick mark. Mabel giggled, breaking free from the hand-hold to arm herself with a pillow.

 

“ _HEY!”_ Pacifica exclaimed, fleeing from the pillow without so much as a pincushion to defend herself with.

 

For the rest of the night, they talked and laughed (and destroyed each other in The Great Pillow Fight War). It was like any other sleepover, except for the small fact that they knew they Liked each other, and they knew the other Liked them back, and they knew the other knew they Liked them.


	7. Chapter 7

When Mabel and Pacifica came downstairs in the morning, they were holding hands.

 

Dipper noticed first. He was slouched in his seat at the breakfast table, the brim of his hat almost entirely covering his face, and typing on his phone with a curious smile creeping up his face. When he saw them, he sat up and straightened his hat.

 

“Is that _glitter_ in your hair, Pacifica?”

 

Pacifica hadn’t bothered to put on any makeup yet, nor had she brushed her hair. Her eyebrows still sparkled in the sunlight, and there was a lipstick mark on her cheek. At Dipper’s question, she ran her fingers through her hair. “I think so.” She didn’t sound concerned.

 

Grunkle Stan was frying french toast in the kitchen, with Ford’s help. Pacifica and Mabel sat down at the table, scooting their chairs closer together so they could lean against each other. Dipper watched them for another moment, then looked back down at his phone.

 

Ford set a plate of fresh french toast on the table and sat down, followed by Stan. As they all stacked their plates with french toast, Stan caught sight of Pacifica and Mabel’s intertwined fingers. After several seconds, it clicked, and he commented, “looks like the friendship party was a success, eh?”

 

Mabel and Pacifica shared a grin. Then Mabel replied, “ _More_ than a success!”

 

She cleared her throat and stood up, gesturing dramatically at Pacifica. “Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, Dipper. I want you to meet my new girlfriend, Pacifica!”

 

Dipper looked up from his phone, throwing them a small smile. “We know, Mabel.”

 

Grunkle Stan added, “we already know Pacifica, sweetie.”

 

Then Grunkle Ford set down the maple syrup bottle and held out a hand for Pacifica to shake. “ _I_ don’t know Pacifica.”

 

Pacifica shook his hand, a bit hesitant.

 

Ford continued, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Stanford Pines, Stanley’s brother. Congratulations.”

Pacifica didn’t know what to say. “...thanks?”

 

Stan snorted. “No one talks like that anymore, Sixer. What he meant to say is, hurt our grand-niece and we’ll curse your hair to never be blonde again.”

 

“ _Grunkle Stannn,”_ Mabel protested.

 

Pacifica brushed off the comment with an eye roll, and they moved on to small talk. Pacifica told them about “the simple life”, including working at Greasy’s Diner and only having one pony. Stan interrupted her halfway through to go on a tirade about “back in my day” and “you think _you’ve_ got it tough?”. Then Mabel directed the conversation away from Stan’s favorite topic (his list of chronic pains and body aches), and Ford interrupted with a story about a cryptid he befriended last month. In other words, the conversation went the way it normally did at the breakfast table on weekend mornings.

 

Eventually, Mabel’s curiosity overcame her need to gaze at Pacifica 24/7, and she snuck under the table, crept up behind Dipper’s chair, and popped up over his shoulder. “Whatcha doooing?”

 

Dipper fumbled for the off button on his phone. “None of your business!”

 

But Mabel was too fast. She’d already seen two key pieces of information: he was actually _texting_ someone, and that someone’s name was “Marcus Corduroy”.

 

“ _Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”_ Mabel squealed. “Who’s _Marcus?_ Oh, it’s the guy with the looong, luxuuurious hair and the beanie, right?” Mabel accentuated her statement with an overexaggerated hair flip.

 

Dipper put his head on the table. “Mabel, can you mind your own business for _two seconds_?”

 

“Noooo,” Mabel answered instantly. “You have to tell me _everything_ . Do you _like_ him? Did you talk at the party?”

 

Pacifica gestured at Mabel to sit back down. “You can wait for him to tell you when he _knows_ , ‘kay?”

 

Mabel met her eyes, and remembered what it felt like to _know_ , and how wrong she’d been _last_ time she tried to set someone up with Dipper, and nodded. “Aww, okay.”

 

As she sat back down, putting an arm around Pacifica’s shoulder, she pointed at Dipper. “But you’d better _tell me_ if you have a crush!”

 

The rest of the morning flew by much too quickly. Before either of them could blink an eye, Pacifica had to put on her makeup, wash off the glitter, and go back home. But they carried with them the kiss, and the word _girlfriend_ , and that made the distance not seem so very far.


	8. Chapter 8

Today was the day. Mabel and Pacifica walked through the crowd like celebrities strolling down the red carpet. Nobody gave them a second glance, but they still felt elated by the fact that their arms were linked together. Warm summer sunlight acted as a spotlight for the new couple, diverted only by an enormous floppy sun hat on Mabel’s head.

 

When they reached the pool entrance, Candy and Grenda waved at them from the other side.

 

“Heyyyyy!” Grenda called out, lifting up her sunglasses briefly. Candy simply dabbed.

 

Mabel and Pacifica paid the entrance fee, and walked in. “ _Crazy_ seeing you guys here!” Mabel laughed.

 

“You invited us,” Candy pointed out.

 

Mabel waved off Candy’s comment, bursting at the seams with excitement, and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “Guys, I have an announcement to make! Th-”

 

Before Mabel could finish, Pacifica kissed her cheek, making Grenda and Candy erupt into squeals of a pitch that only young teenage girls are capable of making.

 

Candy giggled. “Congratulations!”

 

Grenda pulled them into a hug, which was only awkward for the first split second. “This is so _romantic!!!”_

  


When she let them go from the hug, Mabel was bright red. For once, she didn’t say a word. She just grinned at Pacifica shyly.

 

The girls had a blast. Nothing’s more fun than jumping into a pool in the late summer with all of your favorite people by your side. It looked like it would be your typical day out in the sun, until Mabel spotted Wendy lying on a reclining pool chair beside her girlfriend. She immediately called a truce in their splash fight war and went running towards Wendy.

 

“Woah, hey, how’s it going?” Wendy asked when she saw her running at the speed of a rocket launcher towards them.

 

“WENDY GUESS WHAT?!” Mabel blurted out, feeling some combination of ‘thank you for making me realize girls can like girls’ and ‘asjdhkgsklf;gkfdjhl’. With a dramatic finger pointed at Pacifica, she announced, “that’s my girlfriend!”

 

Wendy snorted. “Pacifica, huh? Well, welcome to the club.”

 

Her girlfriend, Anna, grinned at Mabel as well. “You abandoned your girlfriend!”

 

Mabel turned around in an instant to see Pacifica shouting from the pool edge. “Mabel! What are you doing??”

 

Mabel ran to the pool’s edge, skidding to a halt with her toes touching the words ‘No Running’. “I was telling Wendy we’re girlfriends!”

 

Pacifica raised an eyebrow. “What, are you just going around telling the whole pool-”

 

Before she could finish her sentence, Mabel grinned so widely and suddenly that Pacifica stopped talking. She knew exactly what was going through Mabel’s head. “... _really?_ ”

 

With a wiggle of her eyebrows, Mabel walked casually towards one of the life guard posts, whistling in the least suspicious manner possible.

 

Pacifica opened her mouth to say _“Mabel, you’re going to get us kicked out of the pool”_ , but couldn’t bring herself to stop this chaos from playing out.

 

Sure enough, Mabel grabbed the megaphone hanging at the side of the lifeguard chair without Mr. Poolcheck batting an eye.

 

Then she turned it on.

 

After a crackle of static, Mabel made her announcement from the edge of the pool. Everyone looked up from whatever they were doing, and Pacifica put her elbows up against the side of the pool, grinning a smile that almost matched the mischievousness of Mabel’s own smile.

 

Then, with a deep breath, Mabel made her announcement. “HEY EVERYONE LOOK AT MY GIRLFRIEND!”

 

Mr. Poolcheck came running, bursting out from the men’s changing room (where he’d been over-polishing one of the sink faucets) at speeds that can’t be measured by humankind. But Mabel was faster. Throwing the megaphone at Mr. Poolcheck, she backflipped into the swimming pool, straight into Pacifica’s arms. They both sunk to the bottom of the pool, then swam as quickly as possible towards the other end of the pool.

 

Mr. Poolcheck caught the megaphone, set it back in its place on the chair, and swan-dived into the pool in one fluid motion. Candy and Grenda started cheering. Pretty much everyone was watching the drama unfold.

 

In spite of Mabel and Pacifica’s best efforts, Mr. Poolcheck caught them within seconds, and threw them into Pool Jail. “ _Don’t_ let me catch you stealing pool equipment _again,_ _P i n e s,”_ he whispered menacingly as he closed the jail door.

 

Pacifica rolled her eyes, still grinning. “Mabel, you’re ridiculous.”

 

In response, Mabel pulled a ridiculous face. “Blehhhh!”

 

Pacifica giggled, shoving her playfully.

 

Pacifica and Mabel did their time, and were let out without too much trouble. Once free, Mabel caught sight of Dipper sitting beside that Corduroy boy, Marcus. They were both fidgeting more than usual, and giving each other shy smiles.

 

Something deep in Mabel’s gut began to form. It was the beginning of her usual squeal of excitement, which was usually followed by a barrage of questions, which was usually followed by Dipper telling her to give him some space. But this time, as she felt the urge build up inside of her, she let the moment pass without so much as an eyebrow wiggle in Dipper’s direction.

 

Dipper would tell her when there was something to say, and even then, it would be at his own pace, in his own time. And she was ok with that.

 

“What’re you looking at?” Pacifica asked.

 

Mabel realized she was still poised to run to Dipper and ask him if he had a cruuush. She shook it off, looking at Pacifica instead. “Nothing. Just your cute face.”

Pacifica raised her eyebrows. “Really? That’s funny, because I was just looking at _your_ cute face.”

 

Mabel and Pacifica spent the rest of the day swimming and splashing and daring each other to bother Mr. Poolcheck one more time, until their faces were so red they had to admit they hadn't put on enough sunscreen. It was the end of a day at the pool, but in many other ways, it was just the beginning. The beginning of young love, and long phone conversations after school, and of melodramatic love letters that had more glitter than paper enclosed inside. It was the beginning of "mom, dad, I like girls!", and of Dipper and Marcus going on a date to Greasy's Diner that ended in a conversation about the best system of magic in fantasy novels, and Marcus working at the Mystery Shack over the next summer just to spend time with Dipper, and Mabel having her first family dinner at Pacifica's house, and of a great many other things that can't be listed in a single paragraph.

But the most important thing was that after everything -- all the confusion, and hesitation, and misdirected attraction -- two girls fell in love on a warm Summer night, and could announce it to the world.

~

Somewhere, sometime in the future, Mabel would find her old matchmaking notebook, and in it her plans for “Project Dipcifica”. And on that day, she would tear out the pages and laugh at the very idea. She’d take out her favorite squishy glittery pen, cross out the word “Dipcifica” (which she’d underlined so many times that the cross-out was almost as big as the page), and brainstorm a name that was more appropriate. After a few iterations and name-mashups that weren’t meant to be (Pacifimabel? Mabpacifica? Pacmab???), she’d write down “Mabcifica”, and underline it just once. Not because it wasn’t a better idea than “dipcifica”, but because she didn’t need multiple underlines to get the point across. It already spoke for itself.

 

Then, after cramming her notebook back in its spot, she’d run downstairs with her Nintendo DS, and squeeze herself on the couch between Dipper and Pacifica, and beat them both at Mario Kart.


End file.
